Works quite well on normal medium or low pile carpet. Does leave some bigger stuff behind though. Maneuverability It drives itself or you can chase the cat with the remote control! Gets all areas quite well. Ease of Maintenance Just empty the bin and clean your brushes and that's it! Suction Performance Leaves a bit to be desired on the suction part but it is quite small - does a good job getting most debris. Versatility Works well except for on long hair or shag carpet - doesn't work hardly at all on them. Design Well designed and functionality - easy to use! Durability Unit lasts a long time however you will need some replacement bushes after a while - and maybe some other small parts.

ScottHickerson

USA

Overall I am satisfied with the Roomba. It does its job though it complains an awful lot. We have 2 long haired dogs and 2 cats - the whole house is fur balls. The fur balls create a particular challenge for the Roomba, especially when they get caught on the rollers. That has been the single largest problem so far. Other than that for over 2 years my Roomba has been dutifully vacuuming the house with the occasional "I am stuck" scream. Our house is hardwood and tiles, but we have many area rugs. These rugs can sometimes cause the Roomba to get stuck. Also, the rather large return air-duct has caused the Roomba some grief - each time requiring a rescue. It is not fast, but it is thorough and vacuums the rooms well. The battery has lasted quite well and I can still get close to 1 hour of run time even after a year. After hearing all the bad reviews I bought the extended warranty but I never used it. Never had any service problems or issues, but I have been careful about cleaning it and tending to it. The rollers do need to be cleaned often - especially with our pets. Overall I am satisfied and would buy another Roomba.

cavinda

Murphysboro, IL

I bought the Roomba 405 on closeout at my local K-Mart.  I believe it's the most basic Roomba one can buy and comparable to the 415 model sold directly from the company.  I wasn't really expecting it to clean very well but it was reasonable and looked like a novel item.  I was pleasantly surprised as to how much suction and cleaning power this little bugger has.  My main vacuum has always been a Riccar upright and this is very comparable but with much less work for me.  The suction is powerful enough that it leaves noticable lines in the carpet where it has cleaned.  The brushes are quite powerful and the edge brush does a great job.  I would venture to say it picks up pet hair even better than my upright.  It's easy to use -just let it charge, press the power button and watch it go to work.  I know one can buy "virtual walls" to go with these to block off a room that you're not ready to vacuum, but I just set up a few chairs or a laundry basket or two to keep it from venturing off to where I don't want it to go.  It even has a built in sensor to keep it from falling down stairs.  I love my Roomba and just bought another in case this one ever kicks the bucket.  So far so good -I haven't even needed to replace the battery even though I've used it many, many times.  I really love this product!

MinnesotaMom

Hawley, MN

Being a buzy mom of 7 means much to do with little time to do it. Boy has this Roomba been a God send. Living on a farmette meant vacuuming everyday, taking time away from everything else I had to get done. Now I simply set out the Roomba and it does the vacuuming while I take care of other things. I love how compact and lightweight it is and it really picks u well. It also really covers the area you are vacuuming and gets up against walls and under things.It also works well on all flooring surfaces and will go from carpets to hardwood with ease. Downfall is the battery life. It only holds enough charge to do 1 or 2 rooms before it needs recharging.I also love that it came with a a laser stand that you can set up to block it from going past it so when I run it upstairs I don't have to worry about it falling down the stairs. While I wouldn't get rid of my heavy duty vacuum for the deep cleaning, this is perfect for everyday cleaning.

Coops12

Rockford, IL

I bought mine on a Black Friday sale. I love the way it cleans the carpets and the hard floors. It worked great up until I was injured and it wasn't used for a few weeks. Apparently, if it is not used frequently the battery and charger may loose it's ability to charge. I ordered a new bigger capacity battery and new rapid charger and it has worked fine since. It runs longer and can do more rooms in the house. I like that IRobot sells each part individually making it easier to replace parts. One thing I don't like it about it is that the original paperwork does not warn you about the need to use the Roomba frequently or that you do not need to charge it sitting on carpet. The other downside is the difficulty in cleaning it. All in all though, it is a great value and a wonderful time saver. Looking to buy another one to do whole house at the same time.

tinkij

Benton, AR

Reviews of Roombas are generally mixed, which can be frustrating if you are trying to decide whether or not to spend money on one, and which one to buy.  The important thing, I think, is to decide what you really want the Roomba to do for you.  Do you want it to get your whole house clean, quickly, without you lifting a finger?  If so, this isn't the Roomba you are looking for.  Do you want it to get one room really, really clean, no matter how long it takes?  If so, this might be your Roomba. Obviously, the size and layout of your home also determines whether or not this product is right for you.  We have a small, single-story home with three smallish bedrooms and one large "open" area for our living/dining/kitchen space.  This Roomba is amazing in the bedrooms.  I turn it on, shut the door, and let it go until the battery dies (about 45 minutes?).  It cleans that one room better than I ever would!  But if I wanted to clean all 3 bedrooms, I'd have to clean it out, recharge the battery, and move to the next room... and then do all of that again for the third bedroom.  Cleaning the bedrooms is a multi-day project. For me, that's fine.  I just rotate the room I do each day and over the course of the week, I can have my whole house clean without spending much time on it myself (you do have to clean out the Roomba, which can be a little time-intensive if you have pets or long hair to clean out of the brushes.)   For our large open area, we have to block off each "room" with furniture to keep the Roomba focused on just one area at a time, otherwise it runs out of battery without finishing the whole space.  (This model doesn't come with a "lighthouse" or "virtual wall," but your own furniture works just as well).  Honestly, I sweep this part of the house more often than I run the Roomba, but I am always impressed with how clean Roomba gets this area when I do use it here, too.    

poetchick

Saint Petersburg, FL

My husband and I purchased the iRobot Roomba 405 last Thanksgiving.  We got a super deal on it, so we figured we would give it a try.  We have two dogs who are constantly shedding and it is impossible to keep up with the furball "tumbleweeds".  Our house is mostly tile and hardwood floors and this Roomba works fantastic!  It is able to tackle small areas very well--we use the laser barriers to keep it in one room at a time.  Without the barriers, the robot wanders a little too far, leaving multiple rooms half-vacuumed.  But using it one room at a time works great for us!  The only drawback is that this model cannot be pre-programmed to run at a specific time.  Instead we have to physically turn it on (which is really not a big deal). You can also purchase more expensive models from iRobot that can be pre-programmed.  We did have to replace the battery after 10 months, but we still think that this vacuum is worth it.  The main components of the robot are clearly labeled for when you need to disassemble for cleaning.  We have been very satisfied with our iRobot Roomba purchase. 

kfw31

Melbourne, FL

Okay, I know my mother-in-law thought I was little crazy when I asked for this for Christmas but I have young kids and therefore have to spend ALOT of time sweeping and vacuuming.  I love this product!!  I am not a super intense clean freak, in fact I am not a clean freak at all, I hate to clean, so just a little help in this one area  has been super nice, plus the kids love the chase it around.  I don't have the one that does the routine cleanings, I drag it from room to room and it cleans at my beck and call.  I use it probably once a day when I am on a good cleaning spree.  I don't know if a super clean freak would approve of this contraption because it is not the best at getting into corners and only does a marginal job against the wall but for routine cleaning that has to be done every day I would say it is wonderful.  Everyone I know who owns a robotic vacuum loves it and I think it is worth the money you would spend on it.  I especialy like that is goes from carpets to linoleum without any problem.

litlmouse

Idaho Falls, ID

After seeing this vaccuum and watching the prices on it over several months, I finally found one 50% off and decided I had to have it.  With 3 little ones, I just don't have time to pull out the vaccuum as often as I would like to, so I thought this would take care of the in between times.  I found that it did a great job initially, but after only having it a few months, I find that the battery life is not what it used to be and the stupid this usually traps itself under the corner of my couch spinning its wheels waiting for me to come rescue it.  I hate having to plug and unplug it for every charge, so next time I would definitely pick the more expensive one with a docking station.  I don't think this takes the place of a regular vaccuum, but it does help right before company is arriving and I don't have the time to actually drag the vaccuum down the stairs.  Overall, the concept is good, but I think it needs to be fine tuned a little more to do a more thorough job.

csmom79

San Tan Valley, AZ

the robot is great for those busy days but it really runs out of power to quickly for a house my size. I would have to have two or three of them to properly do the job in a reasonable length of time. As the power does not last long I am a;ways finding myself looking for the cleaner. I spend more time looking for it than I would if I just vaccumed the house. On the up side though the robot really does do a good job of cleaning. It is great though if you are only looking to clean one room at a time, but it takes all day to do my whole house as I have to stop and keep rechargeing the machine. I can do the same job with my upright in less than half the time. If I am leaving the house for awhile it isnice to know at least one room will be done when I get back though so I do use it for those occasions. But to do a thorough cleaning though I still count on my upright.

mynanax07

Luray, VA